Modern computer systems are frequently distributed across multiple locations where each of the locations may perform a portion of the tasks associated with the computer system. Such computer systems frequently utilize distributed data storage in multiple locations to store shared data items so that such data items may be made available to a plurality of consumers. These computer systems may also provide access to data clients that may allow those data clients to alter the contents and/or structure of the shared data items in one or more of the multiple locations. When multiple clients attempt to alter the same shared data item, a contention may occur that must be resolved in order to avoid the loss of potentially important data. Some techniques to resolve such contentions may involve establishing communications between the locations to determine a consensus as to the data items that should be retained. Other techniques to resolve such contentions may involve electing a leader and using the leader to determine the consensus. However, these techniques may require additional network resources and time-consuming processes in order to reach the consensus and may lead to a degraded user experience due to delays in reaching the consensus, increased resource usage, or loss of critical data changes.